


Dreaded Venture

by yansurnummu



Series: Desperado [4]
Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: M/M, References to past trauma, Reunions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-27
Updated: 2019-10-27
Packaged: 2021-01-13 17:55:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 756
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21194963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yansurnummu/pseuds/yansurnummu
Summary: James almost doesn't recognize him.





	Dreaded Venture

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place around the beginning of Drifter Season.

James stops in the gateway when he sees the man next to Drifter, back turned as they talk shop. Sure, he sees new faces in Gambit every day. But something about the man gives him pause. 

Maybe it's the grimy black hat left on the table beside him.

When the man turns around, James' heart stops. Their eyes meet, shades of dark brown, and time stands still, the both of them frozen in place. James, in fear. Nate… he couldn't say.

"Been a while, cowboy," Nate's voice grates harder than he remembers. He doesn't move. Doesn't smile. Just looks James up and down, sighing deeply - and if James didn't know better, he'd say there was some kinda sadness behind his eyes.

Drifter says something about  _ leavin' you two alone,  _ and James' attention snaps to him in a wide-eyed plea. The rogue pauses, and Nate breathes out a frustrated sound, turning to the table. He slumps down in Drifter's chair. It's definitely  _ him,  _ alright, but something seems… off. 

"JJ, c'mon, you're makin' me nervous. In or out," Drifter gestures towards him, and he realizes he's still standing in the gateway. He takes a look at Drifter, then the dirty gunslinger. 

The man who made him who he is.

_ Curiosity killed the cat,  _ Kara would've told him. When he enters the room, he makes his choice.

Nate looks up, surprised, when James cautiously leans against the table next to him. 

He looks… older. Tired. Dark lines around his eyes worse than ever, streaks of grey hair at his temples. James thinks the haircut might’ve been what threw him off - buzzed all around, cropped short and messy on top - nothing like the thick, wild mop he remembered.

"I thought you were dead," James says eventually, his tone flat. Nate sighs like he'd been holding his breath.

"Yeah," he replies. "I… a lot happened."

"It's been  _ two hundred years, _ Nate," James glares at him, more accusatory.

"Don't I know it," he mumbles, not meeting James' eyes. 

James sighs. After a moment, he speaks, his voice quiet. "Why are you here?"

"Just…" Nate looks back over at Drifter, standing nervously a few feet away. "Wu Ming - or, whatever y'all call 'im these days." Drifter makes an annoyed sound, but doesn't say anything. "I'm just - tyin' up loose ends, is all. I didn't expect - he didn't mention you," when Nate looks up at him, it's with an expression James could only describe as  _ broken. _

"Hey, don't go pinnin' this on me, I had no idea you two were… whatever all this is," Drifter says, raising his hands at his sides in James' peripheral.

"Ain't that a good question," Nate mutters, and James bristles, taking a step away from him.

"Have you got any idea what you did to me? D'you really think we can just… go back to how things were?" James stares at him in disbelief. He tries to ignore how his voice shakes.

"That weren't - I ain't stupid, James. I don't want your forgiveness," Nate says, but still doesn't look at him. "Lord knows I don't deserve it."

James crosses his arms. He stares at the floor for a good long while.

"Why?" he asks. Nate doesn't need him to clarify, and he knows it. The gunslinger meets his eyes, and despite himself… James  _ wants  _ to forgive him.

"I've asked myself that every day for the past two hundred-somethin' years," Nate sniffs, looks away again. "If you wanted a reason, sorry to disappoint. I fucked up. Plain n' simple."

James' heart aches.  _ This is not the man he knew, _ he thinks. 

Nate stands when James doesn't say anything. He shoots Drifter a mournful look as he picks his hat off the table, making like he's about to leave. The way he skulks as he walks is different from James' memory.

"Nate, wait," James hurries after him before he can think about what he's doing. The man turns around in the gateway, surprised, as James catches up to him.

Nate's always been a little smaller than him, but for the first time since he's known the man, James actually feels like he's looking down at him.

James stutters for a moment. "You… you hurt me, yeah, but - fuckin' hell, it's been  _ two hundred years, _ mate," he manages eventually. "I just…" he scoffs to himself, fighting back the tightness in his throat.

Nate swallows, shifting where he stands as his eyes trace James' features.

"Let's catch up?" the man offers, uncertain. James sighs in relief.

"Yeah," he nods, "yeah, I'd love that."


End file.
